President Uhuru Kenyatta, on Saturday, caught contractors working to renovate the Port of Kisumu by surprise after he visited the site en route from Tanzania.
During the impromptu visit, President Kenyatta was unimpressed with the slow pace of the work that is being undertaken at a cost of Ksh3 billion.
Kisumu Deputy Governor Mathews Owili told People Daily that the president ordered the contractors to speed up the renovation and complete it in three weeks.
“He cautioned the contractors after expressing concern about the speed with which they are doing the job. He is serious about this port and that is why he insisted it must be done faster,” he told reporters.
“He wants everything to be in place before the launch and he is very strict to the departmental heads in charge,” he added.
The president visited the site in a convoy of civilian-plate vehicles and was accompanied by Infrastructure CS James Macharia.
Journalists who had access to the port were chased away when the president arrived.
This happened just two days after former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is out of the country, also visited the facility.
President Kenyatta and Odinga want the rehabilitation works, which kicked off in May, fast-tracked to meet the August 15 launch deadline, hence the constant inspection visits in recent days.
Some of the presidents expected to attend the launch include Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Felix Tshisekedi (Congo), John Magufuli (Tanzania) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda).
